Rep. Wehrli: Senate Bill 1 Bails out Chicago at Our Schools' Expense

on
Monday, July 17, 2017

State Rep. Grant Wehrli on Monday released the following statement in response to Sen. Andy Manar’s comments on the status of Senate Bill 1:

“Instead of telling the governor what he should and should not be doing, perhaps Senator Manar should heed his own advice and work with his colleagues in the General Assembly. I repeatedly reached out to Senator Manar throughout the spring session to ask if he would meet with me to discuss Senate Bill 1 and specifically what changes needed to be made to make it work for suburban school districts instead of just the City of Chicago. You would think that for someone so interested in ‘building bridges’ he would have been amenable to a meeting. Instead, my requests via at least three phone calls to his district office, and an in-person request in the capitol, went unanswered.

“Republicans agree that this legislation is historic and important – and that’s why we have to make sure we get it right. We have been very clear about our concerns on this legislation from the moment it was amended and passed in the legislature on May 31, so to claim now that he was unaware of Republicans' ‘alleged problems’ with the bill is predictable, disingenuous and reeks of political pandering. At this point, I would encourage Senator Manar to ask Senator Trotter to remove the brick from Senate Bill 1 so it can be sent to the governor, he can make his revisions and send it back to us, and we can then move the process forward.”